News Hour- SBI has no plans to lend more to Kingfisher Airlines: Pranab Mukherjee

NEW DELHI: State Bank of India has no plans to lend more to debt-laden carrier Kingfisher Airlines, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. 

Kingfisher has cleared all its tax and interest dues up to August 2011, Mukherjee told lawmakers in a written reply. 

The airline, which has a debt of about $1.3 billion, needs at least $400 million soon to keep flying, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an industry consultancy. 

Kingfisher Airlines, headed by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya and named after his famous brand of Indian beer, has been struggling to continue its normal operations as a heavy debt load, higher jet fuel costs, stiff competition and low fares have severely hurt its ability to raise funds. 

Kingfisher Airlines cancelled more than one-fourth of its operational flights on Monday when scores of pilots and staffers did not turn up for work due to delay in salary payments even as fewer flights continue to push airfares up. 

Around 60% of Kingfisher's 500 pilots did not report to duty, causing at least 50 flights to be cancelled across the country. And they threatened to stay away until Mallya personally clarified on salary payments.
(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)